Child workers should be vetted every 3 years, committee told

PROPOSALS over the vetting of people working with children should include a requirement that people are re-vetted every three years, an Oireachtas Committee heard yesterday.

Children’s rights organisations and sports groups were invited to make submissions yesterday on the heads of the National Vetting Bureau Bill and while the proposed legislation was broadly welcomed, serious concerns were also raised.

Both the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) and Barnardos said clarity was needed over the use of certain terms in the bill relating to the “ad hoc” nature of interaction with children through employment, and what was meant by “regular, ongoing, unsupervised access” to children.